This invention relates to a projectile loading mechanism for a gun, and, more particularly, to a loading mechanism which is easily removable from the gun, which cooperates with the bolt of the gun to position the projectile in the gun barrel for firing, and which does not interfere with the ability of the gun to operate as a repeater.
The invention finds particular utility with air or CO.sub.2 gas powered guns and will be explained in conjunction therewith. As used herein, the term "gas" includes both air and CO.sub.2 as well as other gases which could be utilized to fire projectiles. Gas powered guns fire a projectile, usually a BB or a pellet, with a burst of pressurized gas. Some guns may be designed to shoot only BB's or pellets, and other guns may be adapted to shoot both BB's and pellets.
A gun which shoots BB's often has a magazine or chamber for storing a number of BB's which are fired successively from the gun each time the firing mechanism of the gun is cocked and fired. A gun capable of operating in this manner may be called a repeater.
Although some pellet guns have repeater action, may pellet guns operate on single shot action, i.e., a pellet must be manually loaded into the gun each time the gun is fired. Single shot guns are therefore sometimes equipped with a loading device which facilitates loading a single projectile into the gun.
One particular prior art loading device is used with a target pistol. The loading device is a generally cylindrical plug which is slidably mounted in the barrel of the gun for movement in a direction generally transverse to the axis of the barrel. The plug is provided with a bore which is aligned with the barrel when the plug is in its firing position and which is positioned above the barrel when the plug is in its loading position. Certain problems arise, however, from the use of this loading device. The loader is spring-biased to its loading position and requires a rather complex latching and alignment mechanism for maintaining the loading device in the firing position. Since the pellet is fired from the loading device rather than from the barrel, the bore of the loader must be accurately aligned with the bore of the barrel. A slight misalignment between the two bores can damage the gun and cause jamming. Further, propellant gas can leak between the loading device and the barrel.
Another problem with this loading device is that it does not facilitate the removal of jammed projectiles. It is not unusual for a pellet to become jammed in the barrel of a pellet gun. Sometimes a user will cause two or more pellets to jam in the barrel, and some users attempt to fire odd-shaped projectiles from the gun which will lodge in the barrel. The usual procedure for clearing a jammed projectile is to force a ram rod down the barrel to force the projectile back toward its firing position. Since the loading device is not removable, the projectile must be positioned in the bore of the loader so that the loader can be moved upwardly to its loading position to expose the projectile. However, if the projectile is forced too far back, the loader can become jammed in its firing position. If more than one projectile is jammed in the barrel, or if an odd-shaped projectile is jammed, it could be very difficult to force the jammed projectile into proper alignment with the loader bore so that the loader can be moved to its loading position.